Touch
by Jayne Foyer
Summary: None of them ever brought it up. It just was there, on his face, as much a part of Zuko as an arm or a leg. Everyone knew it was there, everyone saw it...Well. Almost everyone saw it.


Touch

Katara sat on the stairs, watching Zuko train Aang. Although she would never admit it, she wasn't that interested in the actual firebending going on. She just liked watching Aang.

But she couldn't help herself from watching Zuko as well. It's not that she liked him or anything – oh, no, of course not – it's just…he was pretty okay to look at.

Except for his scar. Sometimes she wondered what he had looked like before the scar. She wondered how old he was when he got the scar. She wondered how he got it.

Her mind began to tick off rational reasons for the scar – a training accident, an assassination attempt, or even, you know, a _suicide _attempt.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Katara was startled out of her reverie by Zuko's voice. It wasn't a demand, just an uncertain question. Aang stood slightly behind him, a hint of jealously in his eyes.

"What?"

"You had this weird look on your face."

"Um…I was just…daydreaming…?"

Aang's eyes widened, then narrowed and he glared at Zuko. The Fire Prince just rolled his eyes at her. She realized that that comment probably had not been the best thing to say.

With an uncomfortable laugh, she said, "Yeah…I'm gonna go over there now…"

She got up and, after face palming once, went to find Suki.

Suki was in the attic, rifling through a bunch of old papers. Katara sighed and sat down next to her.

"What are you doing?" asked Katara, glancing at the papers. Suki shrugged.

"Well, Sokka's failing miserably at trying to fish, so while he was gone I decided to see if I could find anything interesting up here. Did you know that Zuko's uncle had a-"

"Right. Sure."

Suki laughed. "You're so boring."

"Hey, do you know how Zuko got his scar?"

The older girl raised an eyebrow. "How would I know? We're not exactly best friends, if you hadn't noticed."

"I know, I know, but I thought maybe Zuko told Sokka and Sokka told you…"

"Even if that did happen – and I'm definitely not saying it did – then Sokka would never tell me. He doesn't betray people's trust like that."

"Really? Before we met Aang, he was really bad at keeping secrets."

"Whatever," Suki said with a grin.

"What do you think happened?"

"To what?"

"Zuko. How he got his scar."

Suki paused, thinking. "Maybe he fell into a volcano."

"And he miraculously has a scar _only _on his face."

"Hey, it's just an idea. Jeez Katara, you don't have to be so _mean _about it."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Suki, I'm trying to be serious here."

"Okay, okay. Maybe his scar has something to do with why he was banished the first time."

"Hmm. Good idea."

"_Thank _you."

"What do you think he looked like without it?"

"Um, maybe like this."

She handed Katara a portrait. Katara studied it carefully. "Are you sure this is him?"

"I don't know. But look, there's his sister," she pointed to another figure in the painting. "And there's his father. And that must be his mother."

"But he's only like, four in this."

"Maybe he got the scar when he was like, four."

"Somehow, I doubt that."

"Haha, right…You know, he _is_ pretty hot."

"_What?_"

Suki smiled. "I mean, I love Sokka, but seriously? Zuko's got a great body. But I don't think I would ever be able to actually _like _him, though. That huge, gross thing on his face would probably freak me out too much."

"You mean his mouth?"

Katara and Suki whipped around to find Toph standing in the doorway, grinning. "Toph! Um…how much did you hear?"

"Don't worry, I only just walked up a second ago. I missed your discussion of how _great _Zuko's _body _is." She giggled. Suki face palmed.

"Don't make fun of us, just because you don't know how good he looks-"

"Hey, I can see more than you think with my bending. I bet I know some things about Zuko that even _you guys _don't know."

"Yeah, I'm not sure I want to know, Toph."

"Darn right." Suki and Katara laughed. "So, what _were _you guys actually discussing? Something about that huge, gross thing on Zuko's face."

"_Shh_," said Katara, pulling Toph in and closing the door. "What if Zuko had heard you?"

Toph frowned. "There's something you're not telling-"

But before she could finish her sentence, there was a loud shout from outside. Suki and Katara ran out of the room quickly, leaving Toph mystified.

In the courtyard, Sokka was yelling half at Aang and half at Zuko. Aang had attempted to cook the small fish that Sokka had caught, and, unfortunately, had burned it into a crisp. Suki smiled and was instantly at her boyfriend's side, silencing him with a kiss.

Zuko rolled his eyes and groaned in frustration. "Let's just have a break. I'm going to get something cold to drink."

"Ooh, get me something too!"

Katara smiled at Aang's comment. Zuko sighed and walked away, just as Toph walked into the courtyard.

"You guys, you never answered my question," she said, approaching Katara.

"What question?" asked Aang. "Maybe I can help you with it."

Katara and Suki were making frantic gestures and mouthing the words, "_Shut up_," but Toph, of course, could not see them.

"Well I overheard Suki and Katara talking about-"

Katara clamped a hand over Toph's mouth. "Um, girl stuff! Yep, all totally girl stuff…to be talked about only with _girls_."

"_Wait _a second," said Sokka suspiciously. "Toph isn't a _girl_."

Toph wrenched Katara's hand away from her face. "Thanks, Sokka."

"No, I mean, you're a _girl _but you'd never talk about _girl stuff _with _them_."

"Sokka, why don't I explain a few things to you," said Suki, taking Sokka gently by the arm and motioning to Katara to get Toph out of there. Taking the hint, Katara hauled the younger girl back into the house. Aang glanced after Suki and Sokka once (he could vaguely hear something about months and punctuation marks), then sneakily followed after Toph and Katara.

A few moments later, Zuko walked back into the courtyard. Puzzled, he glanced around once, then sat down to enjoy the two glasses of firelemonade in his hands.

Katara dragged Toph into a room, then closed the door behind them. Aang slid up to the door, pressing his ear against the keyhole.

"Didn't you get the drift earlier?" asked Katara's voice. "_Don't _talk about it."

"How can I not talk about it when I don't even know what _it _is? Why can't you just tell me?"

"_Because_…well, just because. Now stop asking question."

The sound of someone getting up. Then, Toph's voice. "You know, now I'm going to think of a hundred huge, gross things that could be on Zuko's face."

"Fine. Just don't bring it up."

Aang had only a few moments notice before Katara charged out of the room. He dashed away, wondering why they were talking about Zuko's scar.

A few hours later, when everyone had sat down for a small dinner, Katara glanced at Toph rather nervously, hoping she wouldn't say anything. Sokka was staring blankly ahead, a look of vague disgust lingering on his face. Suki was smiling faintly, leaning against her boyfriend.

Zuko was observing them all. For some reason, they were all acting out of the ordinary. Especially Katara. She kept glancing furtively between him and Toph. And it was so unnaturally silent…

He began to open his mouth to say something, but Toph beat him to it. "Okay, I give up," she said, much to Katara and Suki's horror. "What's on Zuko's face?"

Stunned, Zuko gaped at Toph. Even Sokka snapped out of his daze and looked at the girl disbelievingly.

"_What?_"

"Katara and Suki kept talking talking talking about something on Zuko's face and they won't tell me what it is! And since I already know he has eyes and a nose and a mouth then there's nothing else it could be!" She grinned. "Unless it's a giant _zit_, but I could take care of that for you!"  
Her hand extended out towards Zuko's face. Aang, Katara, Sokka and Suki looked on is shock and terror.

She didn't get far. Without even looking up, Zuko's hand shot out and caught Toph by the wrist. Her smile faltered.

But, instead of throwing her hand away like everyone anticipated him to do, he slowly brought her hand to his face, where he touched her fingers onto his scar, then onto the normal skin of his cheek, then back up again. The expression on her face changed drastically, first to surprise, then to curiosity, but Katara could detect no revulsion there.

"It's okay," said Zuko quietly. "You don't have to pretend it's not there."

There was absolute silence. Zuko let go of Toph's arm and her fingers hovered over his face for a second, then retreated.

"A scar?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"But – how did you get it?"

The breath caught in Katara's throat. She saw that she was the only one who wasn't staring at Zuko keenly.

He said nothing for a few moments, then there was a slow shrug.

"It was more than three years ago…"

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Just because Toph needed to know something was there. Also, because I don't think the Gaang ever find out how Zuko actually got the 'huge, gross thing on his face' (ohh Suki, you are hilarious). And if you read between the lines, I think you'll find that I am a hopeless supporter of a very _steamy _relationship. :D

Reviews appreciated, as always.


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